San Francisco picks Marcus Lattimore in fourth round

Saturday

Apr 27, 2013 at 2:06 PM

South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore, who would have been a high pick if healthy but is coming off a second severe knee injury, went to the 49ers 131st overall in Saturday's fourth round of the NFL Draft.

By MATT CONNOLLYmatthew.connolly@shj.com

Marcus Lattimore spoke with San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore about battling back from injuries to become a successful NFL running back.The former Byrnes star will now get to learn from Gore firsthand.Lattimore was selected by the 49ers on Saturday afternoon with the 131st overall pick in the fourth round of the NFL draft. "It's still surreal to me. This is a great opportunity with a great organization. I just can't wait to get there. I've always been a fan of those guys, just their style of play and how they do everything," Lattimore said in a conference call moments after being drafted. "I'm so excited I get to work with all the great running backs and everybody on the team. It's just going to be a great experience."Lattimore joins former USC teammates Ace Sanders (Jacksonville) and Devin Taylor (Detroit) as fourth-round selections. Former Byrnes teammate Everett Dawkins, who played defensive tackle at Florida State, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round.Lattimore arrived at USC in 2010 as a highly regarded freshman and made an immediate impact on the program. He rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia in just his second collegiate game.He went on to lead South Carolina to its first SEC East title, helping the Gamecocks down then No. 1 Alabama in Columbia and rushing for 212 yards and three touchdowns in the division-clinching victory at Florida. For the season, he rushed for 1,197 yards and 17 touchdowns.Lattimore entered his sophomore season as a Heisman Trophy candidate. He was on his way to duplicating his success, having racked up 818 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns, when he tore his left ACL and suffered cartilage damage while blocking for teammate Bruce Ellington against Mississippi State in the seventh game of the season.After extensive rehab, Lattimore was on the field for South Carolina's 2012 opener. He had posted 662 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns when his season ended on Oct. 27 after tearing three ligaments and dislocating his knee against the University of Tennessee.Gore reached out to Lattimore after his second injury, something Lattimore said was helpful as he rehabbed in Florida."He was just asking me how I'm handling the situation because he's been through the same thing with the injuries and all," Lattimore said. "He just told me to keep that positive mindset, and that's what I've been doing these past five or six months, and I feel like that's why I'm doing so great with my rehab."Lattimore said he's looked up to Gore as a running back he'd like to emulate in the NFL."He can catch the ball. I feel like I catch the ball well. He can pass protect. I mean he's an all-around back," Lattimore said. "That's what I'm trying to emulate my style of because I mean with his success there's no question that it works. That's what I'm trying to do, trying to get better in all three phases."Lattimore said until he sits down with the 49ers organization, he's not sure if he'll try to play this season, but added that his rehab is going well."We really haven't even talked about (me playing this year). My main goal right now is to go in there and work hard, go in there and learn the offense, and if I'm ready to play I'm (going to) play and if I'm not I'm not. I'm not worried about it," he said. "I'm running sprints. I'm doing everything I can. I'm running straight ahead, been doing box jumps, been doing a lot of different things to try to get back out there on the field. It's going great. I'm working hard." Despite having two seasons cut short by injury, Lattimore still is USC's all-time leader with 41 total touchdowns and 38 rushing touchdowns.He said one reason he chose to leave Carolina after three seasons was so that he could focus solely on football and rehabbing."I just thought about my future and my love of football. I wanted to play football. It was basically putting all of my time into football, and I only have a few more classes on my degree so I plan on going back and getting that too," Lattimore said.Lattimore is heralded as one of the best players in Byrnes history. He is the school's all-time leading rusher with 6,375 yards and finished his senior season with 260 carries for 1,898 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2009. He was named the state's Mr. Football, Gatorade Player of the Year, finalist for the U.S. Army Player of the Year and selected to the Shrine Bowl and U.S. Army All-American games.Lattimore was named the Herald-Journal Offensive Player of the Year in 2008-09 and co-winner of the Steve Sanders Award in 2010.Byrnes won back-to-back state championships with Lattimore at running back in 2007-08 and finished as runner-up his senior year. He had 38 carries for 305 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-21 win against Sumter in the 2008 title game.

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